FREEDOM, Pa. -- Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was
accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween
party by a relative who thought she was a skunk.

New Sewickley
Township police say the girl was over a hillside and wearing a black
costume and a black hat with a white tassel. Chief Ronald Leindecker
told the Beaver County Times that a male relative mistook her for
a skunk and fired a shotgun, hitting her in the shoulder, arm, back and
neck Saturday night.

Leindecker told the newspaper that the girl
was alert and talking when she was flown to Children's Hospital of
Pittsburgh, about 30 miles away. Her condition was unavailable.

Leindecker
says the man hadn't been drinking and he doesn't know whether charges
will be filed. New Sewickley police said Sunday that decision will be
made in a few days.